An Interview With A Jewish Spy From Canada    

Q: Without giving sensitive information away, what were your most dangerous missions as a spy?

I was part of our covert special operations teams planting technical surveillance devices in people’s homes, cars, offices and another place where we knew they would be. We often worked late at night and obviously did our best to avoid being detected. I never worried about being hurt, but I always worried about being caught and having one of my clandestine operations end up on the cover of the newspaper thus compromising a national security investigation.

Q: For how long did you work at CSIS?

I spent a little under a decade with CSIS, including my training.

Q: Did you have to hide your job from close family and friends?

Yes. I lied to most people about where I worked. And practiced discretion so even the people closest to me who knew where I worked didn’t know what I did there. For example when I worked late at night I couldn’t and didn’t tell my wife where I was going, what I was doing, who I was going to be with and when exactly I’d be home. Did I mention I had a very understanding wife!

Q: You mentioned security tips in your introductory email to us. Can you share a couple of general ways for people to stay safe?

My job involved getting access to information. In the old days that meant talking to people and asking them about their friends, family, work colleagues etc. Cultivating human sources of information. These days, so much of our lives are lived online that it is becoming an increasing place to collect information about people, to target them and use them to get access to people they are connected to. My advice is to practice good online safety (good passwords, 2 factor authentication, robust security settings on social media accounts etc). But also be cautious about what information you put online (your personal information as well as your contacts and professional network) , be careful about who you connect with and be vigilant about the links you click.